The Archbishop of Canterbury In his first full-length book, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby looks at the subject of money and materialism. Tuesday 17 January 2017 Ahead of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017, which starts tomorrow, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have issued a joint statement on the 500th anniversary… Monday 16 January 2017 Archbishop Justin Welby licensed the Revd Isabelle Hamley as his new Chaplain at Lambeth Palace today. Friday 13 January 2017 After visiting Auschwitz earlier this week, the Archbishop reflects on recognising and responding to evil. Tuesday 03 January 2017 The Archbishop of Canterbury preached this sermon during Evensong at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa, on Friday 30th December 2016.

Sunday 01 January 2017 Watch and read the Archbishop of Canterbury's BBC New Year Message Sunday 25 December 2016 Read Archbishop Justin Welby's sermon preached at Canterbury Cathedral this morning: Thursday 22 December 2016 Read the Archbishop's Christmas letter to churches around the world Monday 12 December 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby has joined fellow Presidents of Churches Together in England in calling for prayer after the attack on Coptic Christians in Cairo yesterday. Monday 12 December 2016 Writing in the Radio Times, the Archbishop of Canterbury encourages people to support Radio 4's Christmas Appeal with St Martin-in-the-Fields. Friday 09 December 2016 The Archbishop said it was "inspiring to see how generously Coventry is welcoming refugees" during a visit to the city. Tuesday 06 December 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby preached this homily at the annual Advent service at Lambeth Palace for parliamentarians and their staff. Friday 02 December 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby led a debate in the House of Lords today on the shared values underpinning our national life and their role in shaping public policy.

Tuesday 29 November 2016 The current Christian Today editor will take up the new role at Lambeth Palace in January. Monday 28 November 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Russell Barr, signed the Columba Declaration today. Friday 25 November 2016 The Archbishop met and prayed with the ecumenical delegation of the South Sudan Council of Churches at Lambeth Palace today. Monday 21 November 2016 Archbishop Justin visited Pakistan this weekend to express solidarity with church communities across the country. Monday 21 November 2016 The Revd Dr Will Adam will take up the combined role of Ecumenical Adviser to the Archbishop and Ecumenical Officer at the Council of Christian Unity. Thursday 17 November 2016 Read the Archbishop of Canterbury’s address on a future vision for Europe, delivered this evening at the Catholic Institute of Paris during a ceremony awarding the Archbishop… Wednesday 16 November 2016 The Archbishops shared a time of fellowship and prayer at Lambeth Palace this morning.

Monday 14 November 2016 Today at Lambeth Palace ‘In Good Faith’, a new Christian-Jewish dialogue project, was launched. Monday 14 November 2016 The Archbishop joined Cardinal Vincent Nichols for the closing of the Door of Mercy at Westminster Cathedral last night. Archbishop Justin preached for the first time in the… Wednesday 09 November 2016 Following the result of the US Presidential election, the Archbishop of Canterbury said today: Monday 07 November 2016 The Revd Isabelle Hamley will take up the role of Archbishop of Canterbury’s Chaplain at Lambeth Palace in January. Wednesday 02 November 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury gave the opening keynote address today at a dialogue on integration, religious freedom and flourishing societies organised by the Muslim Council… Tuesday 01 November 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby wishes all celebrating Diwali a blessed and peaceful time of thanksgiving.

Thursday 20 October 2016 The Archbishop's advisor for reconciliation, Dr Sarah Snyder, spoke on behalf of the Archbishop yesterday at the Foreign Office conference exploring how freedom of religion… Tuesday 18 October 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury welcomed the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to Lambeth Palace today. Friday 14 October 2016 The official visit of His Holiness Irinej, Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci, Patriarch of Serbia at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury continued… Thursday 13 October 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby received His Holiness Irinej this morning during his official visit to the UK. Thursday 13 October 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby gave this address at Westminster Abbey last night in a service marking the UK's commitment to combating modern slavery. Monday 10 October 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby recorded the Thought for the Week on BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester yesterday during his visit to the Diocese of Worcester. Thursday 06 October 2016 The text of Archbishop Justin Welby's address to Pope Francis during their meeting in Rome, 6 October.

Wednesday 05 October 2016 Archbishop Justin and Pope Francis issued a Common Declaration today. The Archbishop is in Rome to join in celebrations to mark 50 years of closer and deeper relationships… Wednesday 05 October 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury presented Pope Francis with a silver Cross of Nails this evening as a symbol of their partnership in the work of reconciliation. Tuesday 04 October 2016 Archbishop Justin was presented with a Cross of Nails today to mark Lambeth Palace becoming the 200th partner of the Community of the Cross of Nails. Tuesday 04 October 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby extends his warm wishes for Rosh Hashanah. Tuesday 04 October 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury has appointed Rt Revd Anthony Poggo, currently Bishop of Kajo-Keji in South Sudan, as his new Adviser for Anglican Communion Affairs. Friday 30 September 2016 Forty new members of Archbishop Justin Welby's monastic-inspired community for young Christians took their vow of commitment at Lambeth Palace today.

Friday 30 September 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby and Pope Francis will be celebrating 50 years of closer ties between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Wednesday 28 September 2016 In a statement on the death of former Israeli president Shimon Peres, the Archbishop of Canterbury said today: Tuesday 27 September 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby welcomed HRH The Emir of Kano to Lambeth Palace this morning. Monday 26 September 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby set out the Church of England's education vision at the Anglican Academies and Secondary Heads Conference at Coventry Cathedral on Friday 23 September.… Monday 26 September 2016 The Archbishops have welcomed the agreement that ends the parading stand-off in North Belfast. Monday 26 September 2016 Read the Archbishop of Canterbury's sermon at the Mothers' Union 140th anniversary service at Winchester Cathedral on 22 September 2016. Monday 26 September 2016 Read the Archbishop's contribution to 'Lessons Learned: Reflections on antisemitism and the Holocaust', published by the Holocaust Educational Trust and CST.

Friday 23 September 2016 Read the Archbishop of Canterbury's on the vision for CofE schools in this week's TES. Tuesday 20 September 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby joined Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew in the ecumenical prayer and concluding ceremony of the World Day for Peace in Assisi today, along with… Monday 19 September 2016 Churches across England and around the Anglican Communion are uniting around the second year of Thy Kingdom Come, the call by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for Christians… Monday 19 September 2016 At the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Albert Chama has written to the UN Secretary General ahead of the UN summit on refugees and migrants today. Friday 16 September 2016 The former head of state of Nigeria visited the Archbishop at Lambeth Palace during his visit to London. Wednesday 14 September 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby has welcomed the Government's competition to design a UK Holocaust memorial next to Parliament.

Monday 12 September 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury said Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen’s commitment to Jewish-Christian dialogue was a blessing that will live on. Friday 09 September 2016 Message from the Archbishop of Canterbury on the occasion of the commemoration of 25 years since the signing of the Meissen Agreement. Monday 05 September 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has expressed his sadness at the death of the Rt Revd David Jenkins, the former Bishop of Durham. Sunday 28 August 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, today awarded the 2016 Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing to Dementia: Living in the Memories of God by John Swinton… Wednesday 24 August 2016 'Imagine seeing hundreds of thousands of young people thriving as disciples,' says Archbishop Wednesday 24 August 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury visited Demelza Hospice Care for Children in Canterbury diocese today. Friday 12 August 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury has written the foreword to the July 2016 edition of Crucible on safeguarding.

Friday 29 July 2016 The Archbishop presided and preached at a service at Portsmouth Cathedral to celebrate 150 years of the Society of the Sisters of Bethany. Wednesday 27 July 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has announced the appointment of Sarah Snyder as his new Advisor for Reconciliation. Tuesday 19 July 2016 Archbishop Justin Welby joined the Home Secretary for the launch of the Full Community Sponsorship scheme. Wednesday 13 July 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury asked a question on South Sudan during question time in the House of Lords today. Monday 11 July 2016 The Archbishop of Canterbury today called for the leaders in South Sudan to cease hostilities immediately and accept mediation. Thursday 07 July 2016 BBC Religion & Ethics - Profile: New Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby Profile: New Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby By Mick Ord BBC Religion and Ethics editor Justin Welby was Bishop of Durham for just over a year Bishop on UK banking committee The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, turned his back on a successful career in the oil industry to train as an Anglican priest.

He brings experience of personal tragedy and of civil conflict in Africa to his new role leading 80 million Christians in more than 160 countries. The archbishop's rise has been remarkably swift. He was a bishop for little over a year and the 57-year-old became a priest only in his mid-30s. The father-of-five emerged as a late favourite for the Church of England's most senior post after enjoying positive media coverage, having started the contest as an outsider. Justin Portal Welby was born in London on 6 January, 1956 to Gavin Bernard Welby and his wife, Jane Gillian (nee Portal), his parents divorced and his mother later remarried becoming Lady Williams of Elvel. His father died in 1977. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College Cambridge, spent 11 years as an oil executive and became group treasurer for FTSE 100 oil exploration group Enterprise Oil Plc prior to the biggest career decision of his life. Former colleague Vivian Gibney recalls his diplomatic skills. "One of his main strengths is to find the way forward in negotiations… a solution that works for all sides," she said.

"He is very good as seeing others' point of view." Oil to the cloth As an oil executive, Justin Welby was earning a six-figure salary back in 1987 but gave it up to train to be an Anglican priest. He took a degree in theology at Cranmer Hall in Durham, where he studied from 1989 to 1992. He was great fun and very energetic” End Quote Reverend Simon Betteridge Former colleague BBC Radio 4 - Profile: Justin Welby "I was unable to get away from a sense of God calling," he told business publication Money Marketing in 2012. "I went kicking and screaming but I couldn't escape it." The life-changing decision followed a personal tragedy in 1983 with the death of his seven-month-old daughter, Johanna, in a car crash. "It was a very dark time for my wife Caroline and myself, but in a strange way it actually brought us closer to God," he said in a local newspaper interview in 2011. Even while working as an oil company executive, Justin Welby had become a lay leader at the charismatic evangelical Holy Trinity Brompton church in London.

Later, after ordination, he became curate in the village of Chilvers Coton with Astley, near Nuneaton. The Reverend Simon Betteridge, who was a church youth worker at the time, recalls an "enthusiastic, hands-on vicar". "The local authority had virtually closed down all the youth services and the church didn't have any major youth project work," he said. "When Justin came he had a vision to provide a proper youth service which connected the church to young people in a deprived area. He was great fun and very energetic." In 2002, Justin Welby became canon at Coventry Cathedral. He also became co-director for international ministry at the International Centre for Reconciliation. He already had experience of Africa from his oil days, but he was now to witness at first hand some of the horrific results of civil war. On a number of occasions he came close to being killed. He was able to develop a deep understanding of the nature of conflict, as well as an admiration for the Nigerian people who, he says, retain their faith and energy in the face of terrifying odds - something he says continues to inspire him.

BBC History: The Reformation "You saw this practical vision, this willingness to overcome things that most of us would be traumatised by for a generation," he told the BBC at the time. After serving as Dean of Liverpool Cathedral for nearly four years, in November 2011 Justin Welby became Bishop of Durham, one of the most senior posts in the Church of England. In a pastoral letter to his diocese on the issue he wrote how he was "committed to and believes in the ordination of women as bishops". He has been less forthright about his views on homosexuality. While he has rigorously defended the Church's right to oppose single-sex marriages, he has also been keen to accommodate opposing views expressed from a position of deeply held faith. He is a member of the parliamentary commission on banking standards, which has been looking into the Libor rate-fixing scandal. He has also written extensively on business ethics, including a 1992 book "Can Companies Sin?" The Church will hope that his passion for resolving conflict and finding workable solutions will equip him for some of the huge challenges confronting the worldwide Anglican community over the coming months and years.

These include the issue of the ordination of women bishops which was narrowly rejected at the Church of England Synod last November, despite his support for reform. There's also the debate over same-sex marriages, to which he is opposed, and the wider issue of the church's attitude towards homosexuality in general, and in particular gay clergy; all issues which have caused serious differences of opinion between conservatives and liberals within the church. His first significant intervention into the political arena was to publicly back a letter from 43 bishops to the Sunday Telegraph criticising Government plans to cap welfare benefit rise to 1% a year until 2016, arguing it could push 200,000 children into poverty. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, said his eventual successor would need "the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros". However, the new archbishop appears not to be over-daunted by the scale of the challenge ahead. In a recent interview with the BBC he said, "If I looked at it as just me facing it, I would be extremely daunted.

I know above all, that it is the work of God and the grace of God that enables the church…it's not me…it's the whole people of God facing the challenges." More on This Story Justin Welby – new Archbishop of Canterbury – this is your moment – God and Politics in the UK • ( 11 ) It’s been officially unofficial over the last couple of days, but the truth is now out; Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, will be the new Archbishop of Canterbury. John Ingham and Jonathan Wynne-Jones’ article in the Telegraph finally gives sufficient weight to the rumours. Sometimes we wait the best part of a lifetime for God to lead us into a particular calling and sometimes he grabs the reigns and puts everything into top gear. Welby only began studying theology in 1989 having felt a call on his life to train as a Church of England ordinand. 25 years later we will become the head of the Church of England. He has only been a bishop for less than a year. By church standards his rise has been rapid and remarkable.

Having worked for the French oil company Elf Aquitaine for 11 years prior to his theological training, Justin Welby has the benefit of understanding the ‘real world’ (as I put it) away from ecclesiastical circles that the leader of the Church of England needs if they are going to be an effective voice reaching beyond the faithful. His appointment to the committee overseeing the parliamentary inquiry into banking standards and the Libor fixing scandal has demonstrated the respect he has received from political circles. Yet he has not pandered to those in the UK banking industry. He has called it the “most concentrated and cartelized banking industry in Europe.” “Coming from a Christian point of view on human sinfulness and failure, the efficient market system doesn’t work. But one principle seems to me to be clear, we cannot repair what was destroyed in 2008, we can only replace it with something that is dedicated to the support of human society, to the common good and to solidarity.

“Repair would be as inadequate a solution as beginning to put the stones of Coventry Cathedral back one on top of each other, to try and recreate what had been obliterated [during World War II].” “Too much effort is going into putting Humpty back together again, and it can’t happen.” Things will now be changing considerably for Welby as he moves into his next position. No longer will he be focusing his energies on a diocese and a parliamentary enquiry. His job all of a sudden has become much more diverse and challenging. Now he faces the thorny subjects of women bishops, gay marriage, a fractured and divided international Anglican communion and a church in England that is seeing its influence and identity within society waning. It’s no wonder that his predecessor, Rowan Williams, said “I would hope that my successor has the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros.” Welby certainly has a tough job on his hands, but he has two ways to approach his role; to see this as a time of crisis or a time of opportunity. He can let the old agendas dictate his path or he can set his own and forge a new way ahead.

He is undoubtedly an educated and intelligent man having studied at Eton and Cambridge and that will serve him well. But more importantly, what will be his perspective on the purpose of the church he will oversee? HIs Twitter blurb says, ‘Anglican Bishop of Durham, with others encourages flourishing, reconciled churches which love and worship Jesus and seek to change the world.’ Having been baptised at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) church in London, the home of Alpha, and attended it for a number of years he is well versed in reaching out to the unchurched. In an interview last year at HTB just before he left his post in Liverpool and to become Bishop of Durham he said this: ‘It’s a very, very strange feeling. We didn’t want to move but were sort of called into it. We do feel, my wife and I – and others seem to feel – that it’s of God, and so we trust that it is because otherwise it’s not going to go very well at all. ‘So we’re off in the autumn. We’ll be very sad to leave Liverpool.

I suppose it’s a mixture of astonishment that it’s happening, of a great sense of excitement, because I think the thing I believe most passionately is that however big out weaknesses, God’s capacity – if we make ourselves available to him – is bigger. He will grow in us if we really put our trust in him. ‘If we preach the Gospel, if we make it straightforward and simple, make it easy for people to find Christ, don’t put barriers in the way, churches will grow. And the point about growing churches is that as people are converted and are transformed by the grace of God, that grace overflows into the world around them, and will transform the world around us. ‘And, my goodness, we need it.’ Hopefully he will be feeling exactly the same sentiments as he becomes Archbishop of Canterbury. The worst thing for the Anglican church will be to have a leader whose energies get sucked inward dealing with fractious disputes and internal issues that have little relevance to the outside world. This will only lead to decline and despair. Instead Welby needs to remain true to his roots, encouraging the church to reach out to the world, to engage with it effectively and reveal God’s message of love, hope and reconciliation.

The hope for the church does not lie in tradition and structures but in the living Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now is the time for Justin Welby to step forward and follow his calling, sticking to the path that has taken him this far and lead by example. The Church of England needs this, but the world needs a church that lives out the Gospel even more. Please pray for him. Justin Welby: a real world archbishop of Canterbury | Stephen Bates | Opinion | The Guardian Justin Welby: a real world archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Bates The former oil trader tipped to lead the Church of England understands the modern holy grail – money and the City Justin Welby, the bishop of Durham, is expected to be unveiled as the next archbishop of Canterbury. Photograph: Frantzesco Kangaris Thursday 8 November 2012 16.00 EST First published on Thursday 8 November 2012 16.00 EST Share on Messenger Close In the 1960s there used to be a favourite children's television character called Mr Pastry.

Benign, bespectacled, dressed in black, with a bowler hat and a walrus moustache, he invariably ended up looking surprised and covered in wallpaper paste. Well, the moustache has gone, but otherwise that's vaguely like the modern Church of England – which today, having been trumped by betting companies and most of the press, will unveil the next archbishop of Canterbury. If it is not Justin Welby , the current bishop of Durham, who has been talked about as favourite for weeks, officials will have some explaining to do. A selection process that is supposed to be a) transparent and democratic, and b) confidential – for a candidate has to be passed by the prime minister and authorised by the Queen – has once again been sidestepped and pre-empted. It leaves Church House , as usual, looking wrongfooted, hapless and drenched in paste. It happened last time too, when Rowan Williams was appointed. The established church ought perhaps to feel pleased there is still so much interest in who gets its top job on Earth.

Welby has excellent credentials, possibly above all that he is not John Sentamu , the archbishop of York, who has been a self-promotional figure not much liked by fellow bishops. Everyone knows where Sentamu stands on most issues (although it does depend on who he is speaking to, or writing for, at any given time), whereas Welby is so new as a bishop – less than a year since he was translated to Durham – that his stance on the litmus tests – of gay people in the church and women bishops, rather than, say, the nature of the Trinity or substitutionary atonement – remains opaque. This may be a good thing while he remains all things to all men (and, presumably, women) in the pews. Even more compelling is his interesting background as a 1980s oil trader before he saw the light, gave up a £100,000 salary and trained for the ministry instead. That means he understands the modern holy grail: money and the City, objects of mystery and awe to many in the church. They hope it means he is connected to what they think of as the real world.

His experience running Liverpool cathedral and re-energising the diocese of Durham, reorganising its finances in the months he has been there, evidently help. The CofE's real problem, though, is not so much money as its place in the life and future of the country. It is a mark of the relative thinness of the field of candidates, thanks to the timidity of the episcopal selection processes started under that ultimate grey archbishop George Carey 20 years ago, that the Crown Nominations Commission has opted for a largely unknown and untested figure. No one suggests Welby is another Carey – a man who had also been only briefly a bishop before being inflicted on the church by Margaret Thatcher – but he is being thrust into a job where he will have a high profile. Every move and utterance will be scrutinised for heresy, error or obtuseness by the Pharisees of the church and the soothsayers of the media, not all of them actuated by faith, hope or charity. Welby certainly looks like an archetypal clergyman and has a thin, harsh voice to match.

Some mutter about whether an Old Etonian – who would be the first for 150 years to be archbishop of Canterbury – can keep the church in tune with modern society. People who were at Eton and Trinity, Cambridge, with him say they can't remember him at all, but that may be because he was in the exclusionary God-squad evangelicals of the Christian Union in those days. The death of his baby daughter in a car crash 30 years ago is thought to have impelled him towards ordination. If the CofE is to reconnect with a largely indifferent society, empathy may prove his greatest asset. Maybe charisma will follow – who knows? • This article was amended on 9 November 2012 to reverse an editing change that led to it saying Justin Welby "would be the first [Old Etonian] for 150 years to be archbishop". Another former Eton scholar, John Habgood, was archbishop of York from 1983 to 1995.

Next archbishop of Canterbury tells reporters that his first response on being offered the job was, 'Oh, no' Published: 9 Nov 2012 Bishop of Durham says farewell to diocese Bishop of Durham says farewell to diocese By Anglican Communion News Service on January, 29 2013 (0) Add a Comment | (0) Like Justin Welby, bishop of Durham, chats with choristers as he prepares to leave the diocese to take up his new position as Archbishop of Canterbury. Photo: Keith Blundy The Right Revd Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham and Archbishop of Canterbury Elect, tonight (Monday January 28) bade farewell to the Durham Diocese with a message of hope for the people he is leaving behind. Bishop Justin attended a service of farewell, thanks and celebration at Durham Cathedral in what was his last public appearance in the diocese before he receives his legal title as Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop Justin will cease to be Bishop of Durham and have the legal title bestowed on him as Archbishop of Canterbury at 12 noon on the 4th February at a formal service in St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

His public ministry will be inaugurated at an enthronement service at Canterbury Cathedral on 21st March. The Farewell service for Bishop Justin and his wife Caroline drew a large congregation from across the diocese and the region and was attended by the Lord Lieutenant Sir Paul Nicholson. Speaking about his new job in an interview before the service, he said: “It is extremely scary and a huge privilege. It’s an extraordinary feeling to look back and see my predecessors, some of whom are extraordinarily distinguished, like my immediate predecessor Rowan Williams, who is breathtaking in his grip and imagination and his intellect and in many other ways. It’s exciting. There is a sense of what is God going to do?” Asked what effect the possibility of a triple-dip recession could have on the Durham diocese, he said: “It is a huge challenge. Whether we go into a triple-dip or not, whatever does happen it’s going to go on being pretty dark economically. However, at the centre of the Church is Jesus Christ, who is described as the light of the world, and the darker the world, the more obvious the light.

“The Church is a centre of peace and hope which is completely independent of the circumstances around it so church communities everywhere have to be consciously seeking to be that peace and hope, welcoming and loving, ministering to people, letting them come and experience church life, making it easy for them to do so. “In this diocese, churches, not just Church of England but churches generally, are organising about 50 food distribution centres. That’s the light of the world in the dark times in very practical ways. The church has often been at its best at times of difficulty because, as people are drawn into worship, they find someone who is faithful, whatever happens. “If I have had three wishes for the diocese of Durham and its people, you couldn‘t get much better than what St Paul talks about in chapter thirteen of the first letter to the Corinthians, which is faith, hope and love. “Faith in God and in each other, in the capacity of this area to pull itself up and give itself a great future, which I utterly believe is within the capacity of this area and is being demonstrated.

You only have to look at what’s happening in places like the Foundation for Jobs in Darlington (of which he is Patron) and lots of other examples in the north of the diocese. Really very remarkable work is being done. “Hope that some of the struggles of the present will be ended but also hope in the sense of expectation that there is a really good future out there. Hope shows in how we train people, teach them what to expect and give them a vision. “Love, knowing the love of God and love for each other. One of the plagues of the Western world, including this country, is the absence of trust in each other but in this area the friendliness, its capacity and the strength of its character and people means that it can set an example on the trust that comes through a genuine love for each other and community and area. “Three big wishes but I think they’re achievable. You build these things a step at a time.” Transcript of the sermon delivered This sermon is very under prepared. It needed at least 10 more years in the cooking, and is more an exposure of brevity than a reflection on ministry.

That being said the call of God comes in numerous and often unexpected ways, and His voice and word to us is the constant amongst the changes of life. Whenever we are beset with fear and uncertainty, it is to His voice we must turn, to the constancy that is more solid than unreliability of human beings. We are in the most powerful symbol of stability in the world. The massive bulk of this Cathedral and the journey from Bede the theological historian to Cuthbert the missionary, turns the changes of human practice, dress, liturgy and interpretation of Christian faith into mere passing moments. Bishops come and go, Priors, Deans change, but the Church is the same. As a building its relative narrowness compared to its length gives a sense of strong shoulders and long journeys, the journeys of Christian faith, and the trials within them supported and given direction. And yet if we think only that we miss half the message. The building is grand, it draws the eye up to God, it stills anxiety and speaks of peace, the beauty of high rose windows breathes life into tired spirits.

But it is also a stage set on which the drama of Christian life is played, and that drama goes on never repeating, never ceasing, always changing. The wanderings of the Israelites in this great passage from Numbers also speaks of solidity and movement. The cloud is always there by day and fire by night. There is the continual certainty of the presence of God. But where it goes is anybody’s guess. Come with me to a typical Israelite tent, standard family, mother and father and about eight children, a few goats, a great deal of general clobber, and possibly a donkey. It is early morning, the first light of dawn beginning to take the chill off the desert. And what are they talking about? I suspect who is going to look at the cloud. “It’s your turn”, “no, I looked yesterday”, “well I did three days in a row when you had a cold”, and so on. Because if you look out, and the cloud has lifted, it means …… packing! You might have been there six months or one day, but you have to move. And let me tell you, and here I am an expert, packing to move is no fun. We have been doing it all day.

It leads to gritted teeth, bad temper, pulled muscles and damaged possessions. And they did it unpredictably for 40 years. The people of God are always in the midst of change. We look to the Church of England for stability, but we must instead look to God for direction and purpose, for the journey we are to travel with Him, and for vision of our destination. Change is always happening, and my natural instinct of moaning about it does no good. The answer is not avoiding change, but embracing pilgrimage, drawing close to God in worship so that we are filled with excitement about where we are going. The call of God is to move, and the uncertainty of the future is countered by His unfailing love. Change comes even when we are still. On a journey back from London last week there was a signalling fault. Another train was alongside us. After an hour or so one of us began to move. The scenery changed, even if for a while we did not know if it was us, them or both. The church may be still but the world around us moves. Culture and expectations of morality change, economics brings destruction or renewal, often both.

We have rapid adaptation by brilliant manufacturing in this region, the taking on of interns and apprentices … and we have 40% cuts in local government funding (If you want to see an astute review of the effect of the cuts see what the Bishop of Liverpool the Right Reverend James Jones said to his diocese on the subject. It was with great sadness that I heard that he has announced his retirement today). All around us is rapid change and those struggling to deal with it, change for good and for ill. The disciples of Jesus are in desolation, reverting to the securities they know, of fishing and locality in Galilee, and finding even that failing them. There is a lostness about the opening of John 21. And the comfort of Jesus comes by surprise, unrecognised. If Numbers calls us to wander on in trust that God is faithful, John tells us how. He is present, and they do not know Him. My first lesson in a challenging week of silent retreat 10 days ago was to remember the presence of God, which I had neglected. He is here, and often I either turn away or forget.

Yet even when they do not know Him, He guides them and restores the normality of life and profession. They catch a lot of fish. His faithfulness does not at all rely on our reception of it, but on His faithfulness. Be reassured. He calls and they answer: as they see Him they are able to respond, in different ways, with a cry, with encouragement, with collecting what He has given, or with leaping clothed into the water. I wonder if Peter’s wife said when he got home, “clothes ruined, couldn’t you have walked?”. He brings them into His work; He has fish but asks for theirs. The church is not necessary to the work of God, but in his grace He has made us essential to His loving. He loves us to share in His work, to participate in the providential outworking of His purposes. And He feeds them, bread and fish as at the 5,000. Provision where there is nothing. What is this Diocese primarily? It is not organisation or institution, even grand buildings, it is a people called to be loved by God.

This Cathedral speaks to us of the everlasting faithfulness of that love, these passages of our call to respond. It is God’s purpose that we should each be consoled and comforted by that love, present, participative, purposeful, providing, and in the strength that He brings pack and move on. Far more than that as we each and all together grow in knowing and recalling the source of that love, God with us, we overflow to generous and self-giving sharing of it with our communities. We are called to be pilgrims overflowing with love, spreading it in our journey, and being that is the gift of God, not the work of any individual. Bishop Justin Welby farewells Durham for Canterbury Bishop Justin Welby farewells Durham for Canterbury Page Image Anglican Communion News Service Page Content ​The Right Revd Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham and Archbishop of Canterbury Elect, bade farewell to the Durham Diocese on 28 January with a message of hope for the people he is leaving behind. Bishop Justin attended a service of farewell, thanks and celebration at Durham Cathedral in what was his last public appearance in the diocese before he receives his legal title as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishop Justin will cease to be Bishop of Durham and have the legal title bestowed on him as Archbishop of Canterbury at 12 noon on the 4th February at a formal service in St Paul’s Cathedral in London. His public ministry will be inaugurated at an enthronement service at Canterbury Cathedral on 21st March. The Farewell service for Bishop Justin and his wife Caroline drew a large congregation from across the diocese and the region and was attended by the Lord Lieutenant Sir Paul Nicholson. Speaking about his new job in an interview before the service, he said: “It is extremely scary and a huge privilege. It’s an extraordinary feeling to look back and see my predecessors, some of whom are extraordinarily distinguished, like my immediate predecessor Rowan Williams, who is breathtaking in his grip and imagination and his intellect and in many other ways. It’s exciting. There is a sense of what is God going to do?” Asked what effect the possibility of a triple-dip recession could have on the Durham diocese, he said: “It is a huge challenge. Whether we go into a triple-dip or not, whatever does happen it’s going to go on being pretty dark economically.

However, at the centre of the Church is Jesus Christ, who is described as the light of the world, and the darker the world, the more obvious the light. “The Church is a centre of peace and hope which is completely independent of the circumstances around it so church communities everywhere have to be consciously seeking to be that peace and hope, welcoming and loving, ministering to people, letting them come and experience church life, making it easy for them to do so. “In this diocese, churches, not just Church of England but churches generally, are organising about 50 food distribution centres. That’s the light of the world in the dark times in very practical ways. The church has often been at its best at times of difficulty because, as people are drawn into worship, they find someone who is faithful, whatever happens. “If I have had three wishes for the diocese of Durham and its people, you couldn‘t get much better than what St Paul talks about in chapter thirteen of the first letter to the Corinthians, which is faith, hope and love.

“Faith in God and in each other, in the capacity of this area to pull itself up and give itself a great future, which I utterly believe is within the capacity of this area and is being demonstrated. You only have to look at what’s happening in places like the Foundation for Jobs in Darlington (of which he is Patron) and lots of other examples in the north of the diocese. Really very remarkable work is being done. “Hope that some of the struggles of the present will be ended but also hope in the sense of expectation that there is a really good future out there. Hope shows in how we train people, teach them what to expect and give them a vision. “Love, knowing the love of God and love for each other. One of the plagues of the Western world, including this country, is the absence of trust in each other but in this area the friendliness, its capacity and the strength of its character and people means that it can set an example on the trust that comes through a genuine love for each other and community and area. “Three big wishes but I think they’re achievable. You build these things a step at a time.” Transcript of Bishop Welby's sermon: This sermon is very under prepared.

It needed at least 10 more years in the cooking, and is more an exposure of brevity than a reflection on ministry. That being said the call of God comes in numerous and often unexpected ways, and His voice and word to us is the constant amongst the changes of life. Whenever we are beset with fear and uncertainty, it is to His voice we must turn, to the constancy that is more solid than unreliability of human beings. We are in the most powerful symbol of stability in the world. The massive bulk of this Cathedral and the journey from Bede the theological historian to Cuthbert the missionary, turns the changes of human practice, dress, liturgy and interpretation of Christian faith into mere passing moments. Bishops come and go, Priors, Deans change, but the Church is the same. As a building its relative narrowness compared to its length gives a sense of strong shoulders and long journeys, the journeys of Christian faith, and the trials within them supported and given direction. And yet if we think only that we miss half the message. The building is grand, it draws the eye up to God, it stills anxiety and speaks of peace, the beauty of high rose windows breathes life into tired spirits.

But it is also a stage set on which the drama of Christian life is played, and that drama goes on never repeating, never ceasing, always changing. The wanderings of the Israelites in this great passage from Numbers also speaks of solidity and movement. The cloud is always there by day and fire by night. There is the continual certainty of the presence of God. But where it goes is anybody’s guess. Come with me to a typical Israelite tent, standard family, mother and father and about eight children, a few goats, a great deal of general clobber, and possibly a donkey. It is early morning, the first light of dawn beginning to take the chill off the desert. And what are they talking about? I suspect who is going to look at the cloud. “It’s your turn”, “no, I looked yesterday”, “well I did three days in a row when you had a cold”, and so on. Because if you look out, and the cloud has lifted, it means …… packing! You might have been there six months or one day, but you have to move. And let me tell you, and here I am an expert, packing to move is no fun. We have been doing it all day.

It leads to gritted teeth, bad temper, pulled muscles and damaged possessions. And they did it unpredictably for 40 years. The people of God are always in the midst of change. We look to the Church of England for stability, but we must instead look to God for direction and purpose, for the journey we are to travel with Him, and for vision of our destination. Change is always happening, and my natural instinct of moaning about it does no good. The answer is not avoiding change, but embracing pilgrimage, drawing close to God in worship so that we are filled with excitement about where we are going. The call of God is to move, and the uncertainty of the future is countered by His unfailing love. Change comes even when we are still. On a journey back from London last week there was a signalling fault. Another train was alongside us. After an hour or so one of us began to move. The scenery changed, even if for a while we did not know if it was us, them or both. The church may be still but the world around us moves. Culture and expectations of morality change, economics brings destruction or renewal, often both.

We have rapid adaptation by brilliant manufacturing in this region, the taking on of interns and apprentices … and we have 40% cuts in local government funding (If you want to see an astute review of the effect of the cuts see what the Bishop of Liverpool the Right Reverend James Jones said to his diocese on the subject. It was with great sadness that I heard that he has announced his retirement today). All around us is rapid change and those struggling to deal with it, change for good and for ill. The disciples of Jesus are in desolation, reverting to the securities they know, of fishing and locality in Galilee, and finding even that failing them. There is a lostness about the opening of John 21. And the comfort of Jesus comes by surprise, unrecognised. If Numbers calls us to wander on in trust that God is faithful, John tells us how. He is present, and they do not know Him. My first lesson in a challenging week of silent retreat 10 days ago was to remember the presence of God, which I had neglected. He is here, and often I either turn away or forget.

Yet even when they do not know Him, He guides them and restores the normality of life and profession. They catch a lot of fish. His faithfulness does not at all rely on our reception of it, but on His faithfulness. Be reassured. He calls and they answer: as they see Him they are able to respond, in different ways, with a cry, with encouragement, with collecting what He has given, or with leaping clothed into the water. I wonder if Peter’s wife said when he got home, “clothes ruined, couldn’t you have walked?”. He brings them into His work; He has fish but asks for theirs. The church is not necessary to the work of God, but in his grace He has made us essential to His loving. He loves us to share in His work, to participate in the providential outworking of His purposes. And He feeds them, bread and fish as at the 5,000. Provision where there is nothing. What is this Diocese primarily? It is not organisation or institution, even grand buildings, it is a people called to be loved by God.

This Cathedral speaks to us of the everlasting faithfulness of that love, these passages of our call to respond. It is God’s purpose that we should each be consoled and comforted by that love, present, participative, purposeful, providing, and in the strength that He brings pack and move on. Far more than that as we each and all together grow in knowing and recalling the source of that love, God with us, we overflow to generous and self-giving sharing of it with our communities. We are called to be pilgrims overflowing with love, spreading it in our journey, and being that is the gift of God, not the work of any individual.

Question: Justin Welby was Bishop of which diocese prior to his move to Canterbury?
Answer: Durham